Fence-wire stretcher



(No Model.)

l P. BURR. FENCE WIRE STRETGHER.

No. 492,278. Pmentedreb. 21,1893.

A TTOHNE YS.

FRANKLIN DURR, OF

PITTSFIELD, ILLINOIS.

FENCE-WIRE STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,278, dated February 21, 1893.

Application led November 4, 1892. Serial No. 450,950. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN DURR, of Pittsfield, in the county of Pike and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Fence-Wire Stretcher, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates 'to an improvement in implements used to stretch barbed wire strands While applying them to posts in the formation of a fence; and has for its objects, to provide a simple, powerful, convenient and cheap device of the type indicated, which will afford means to strain a wire taut, and hold it in such a condition While the operator drives a securing staple in the post on which the im` plement is applied and has a purchase.

To these ends, my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar iigures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the implement as it appears in use; Fig. 2 is an enlarged top view broken at each end,of an important part of the device; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of parts shown in Fig. 2, taken on the line 3--3 in said figure.

The main portion 10, of the implement comprises a bar of sufficient length to afford proper leverage in use, and by preference made of metal and rectangular in cross section. One end 11, of the bar 10, is furcated as shown in Fig. l, and rounded from the pointed toes thus provided, so as to remove the rear corner and adapt the toes to embed themselves in the wood of a post when the device is in use, said toes being produced on a side edge of the bar and made to project slightly forward in the form usually seen on the crowfoot end of a pinch bar or like device. There is an open recess formed on the normally top side of the lever or bar lO, which commences at a point 12, a short distance from the forked end 11, and extends along the lever a proper distance, terminating in a transverse shoulder at each end of the same. The forward shoulder of the recess is curved toward the end 11 of the lever, and slightly rounded at the corners, and on the recessed part of the lever a locking limb 13, is pivoted near one of its ends, which latter is rounded to form a crimping shoulder 14, and a guard flange 14a formed on this end of the limb projects over Vthe forward shoulder of the recess in the lever l0, so as to prevent a gripped wire from slipping off of said shoulder. The pivot bolt or rivet 15, that loosely secures the locking limb 13 upon the lever 10, is inserted through aligning perforations in said parts, which holes are respectively the radial centers of the shoulders 12 and 14, a sufficient distance intervening between said shoulders to permit the introduction of a fence wire of the ordinary gage. An offset bend 16 is produced in the handle portion of the locking limb 13, to enable an operator to grasp and vibrate this piece Without injury t0 his hands, and a sufficient length is given to the handle portion to afford the required leverage. A brace bar 17, is provided, which is loosely attached at one end to the side edge of the lever 10, toward which the toes on the end 11 of the lever project, the lever having an ear 17n projected from this side edge at a proper distance from the toes mentioned, which ear enters between parallel jaws formed on the brace bar end, and these engaged parts are pivoted together. Or the hinge joint may be produced between the brace bar and lever by any equivalent means. A suitable length is given to the brace bar 17, to allow its free end 17b that is sharpened, to have a proper engagement with a fence post, when in service.

To use the implement for the erection of wire fence, one end of a barbed wire 1S, is attached with a staple or other like device (not shown) upon the side of a post 20; the strand is then extended to the neXt post in the line, and introduced between the locking limb 13, and incurved shoulder 12, the limb being vibrated so as to remove its shouldered end 14, away far enough from the shoulder l2, to permit such an introduction of the wire.` The strand 18, is now drawn upon to take up the major portion of its slackuess, and the limb 13, is vibrated so as to cause its handle portion to approach the lever 10, which will engage the crimping shoulder 14, of the limb 13 with the Wire strand and bend it into a kinked curve, which conforms in shape with the shape of the incurved shoulder 12, said kink (which is shown at 19, in Fig. 2), being com- TOO pleted when the handle part of the locking limb 13, lies nearly in alignment with the lever below it. The end 1l, of the lever 10, is now applied to the side of the post 20, whereon the wire strand 18, is to be secured, and the sharp end of the brace bar 17, is also pressed against the post. The outer end portion of lever 10, is now pushed so as to stretch the wire and dispose it near the side of the post which is engaged by the implement. If the wire strand has been gripped at the proper point, which practice will readily indicate, the rocking movement of the lever 10 will sufficiently stretch the wire; and as the point of the brace bar 17 will be embedded in the post when the proper strain is produced on the strand 18, it will prevent a recoil movement of the lever, so that the wire can be secured in place upon the post 20, with a driven staple by an operator, in the usual way, before the strand is released from the implement.

It will be seen, that the use of this novel wire stretcher, will enable an operator to build a long line of barbed wire fencing without assistance in the matter of stretching the barbed strands of wire, and also that but a single post is needed at any point on the line of fencing, as the device will afford a reliable means for stretching and holding the wire stretch ed at a single post of ordinary breadth, thus dispensing with two adjacent posts that are sometimes required when fences are built with other implements.

On the free end of the lever 10, a claw 21, is produced of about the same form as that 011 the other end'of said lever, the claw being serviceable for the drawing of staples or like fastening devices used to secure the Wire upon the posts.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a Wire stretcher, the combination with a lever furcated at one end and rounded at the corner behind the toes of said end, and having a recurved shoulder on the side of the lever near the fui-cated end, of a locking limb pivoted on the lever, having an outwardly rounded shoulder on the end nearest the shoulder of the lever, and a guard flange on said limb over the rounded shoulder, and a laterally vibratable brace bar pivot-ed at one end on the lever and pointed at its free end, substantially as described.

FRANKLIN DURR. lVitnesses:

R. T. HICKS, G. D. HIoKs. 

